What's happening
This bill prohibits utility companies from monitoring meters more frequently than monthly without written consent and restricts entry to residential property without owner approval, except in emergencies.
Why it matters
Enhances privacy protections. by preventing utility companies from frequently monitoring or collecting detailed usage data without explicit customer approval, reducing the risk of intrusive data collection or potential misuse of personal consumption patterns.
Empowers consumers with greater control. over their energy data, ensuring that opting out of more frequent meter monitoring does not result in additional fees or penalties, which supports fairness and consumer choice.
Strengthens property rights. by restricting utility company access to residential properties, except in true emergencies, thereby reducing unwanted or unexpected intrusions and reinforcing the principle of consent for entry.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Limit Utility Meter Monitoring
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to energy and telecommunications
- Referred to energy and telecommunications
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2644
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 28, 2019
Introduced by Sen. LANZA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommunications
AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to prohibiting the monitoring of natural gas or electricity meters more frequently than on a monthly or billing cycle basis and entry upon residential property
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 65 of the public service law is amended by adding two new subdivisions 5-a and 5-b to read as follows:
5-a. No gas corporation, electric corporation or municipality shall, without the express written consent of the consumer, monitor, record, collect or store data from any meter or apparatus which provides such corporation or municipality with a measure of the use of natural gas or electricity for any period of time less than one month or the billing cycle, whichever shall be greater. No fee or rate fee shall be charged to those consumers who withhold such consent.
5-b. No gas corporation, electric corporation or municipality shall enter a residential property without the consent of the owner thereof, except when there is an emergency, or imminent or potential harm to persons or property.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08401-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the public service law, in relation to prohibiting the monitoring of natural gas or electricity meters more frequently than on a monthly or billing cycle basis and entry upon residential property
Purpose
Prohibits the monitoring of gas and electric meters more frequently than on a monthly or billing cycle basis
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends section 65 of the public service law by adding two new subdivisions 5-a and 5-b.
Subdivision 5-a is added to state that no gas or electric corporation shall monitor, record, collect or store data from any meter with a meas- ure of the use of natural gas or electricity for any period of time less than one month.
Subdivision 5-b is added to state that no gas or electric corporation shall enter a residential property without the consent of the owner except in the event of an emergency.
Justification
Allowing utility companies to monitor residential and commercial gas and electric usage on a daily or weekly basis and storing that information in a central data base can eventually lead to the use of this electronic information by unscrupulous actors. Furthermore, this information could provide a treasure trove of information that would show an accurate timeline of utility usage by address that could outline when someone is actually home or not. This bill also ensures that no gas corporation, electric corporation or municipality shall enter a residential property without the consent of an owner.
Legislative history
2018: S.7535A - Referred to Energy & Telecommunications
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effective on the 30th day after it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.